Northam Charities Report 1787

North Devon Record Office ref: 1843A/PF2 and PF3

Transcribed by David Carter 2020

[Anything in square brackets has been added by the transcriber]

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Description of documents:

1843A/PF2 consists of two sheets of paper, folded.
The writing and setting out are reasonable.
Original letter 10th July 1787, reply copied 29th Sep 1787.

1843A/PF3 consists of 4 pieces of paper stitched together, two of which are double-sided.
The handwriting is very rough, and the setting out is very confused.
The document is also torn, with some areas of text missing.
Dated 9th Oct 1787.

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Ref: NDRO/1843A/PF2

Page 1:

Copy of what I ree~~[~torn~]~~ost 7br 29th 1787
to the Minister and Churchwardens of Northam Devon
The committee appointed by the House of Commons to inspect and consider the returns made by the Ministers and Churchw[arde]ns relative to charitable donations for the Benefit of the Poor Persons have "Ordered" That Application be made to every Minister, Churchwarden or other Person who shall have made defective returns to perfect the same without Delay, and that such defect be corrected, and inclosed in a letter directed to Thomas Gilbert esquire, M.P. Great Queen Street Westminster.

On the other side is a Form tabulated to produce answ[er]s which may supply those defects - you will please to fill up the Form, by inserting your Answers under the Questions stated in the Titles of the columns, and if upon strict inquiry, you cannot fill with Certainty any Columns you are desired to write in the Column for observations "No further information can be given" and if you think it necessary to insert any thing more, you will put it in that Column. Such of the columns in the Form on the other side, and are left blank, shew wherein your Return by Defective.
You will please to return this to me as soon as may be agreeably to the said Order of the Committee.

I am your obedient servant
Thomas Gilbert, chairman
Great Queen Street, Westminster, 10 July 1787

N.B. If any of the above charities have been distributed, it should be said so & such specified account is likewise requested of the Donations for schooling poor children, which clearly are required by the Act.

Page 2:

Observations:

(a) Enfeoffment Deeds of these dates for these rent charges are in our Parish Chest - but for want of a re-enfeoffment the Trust is sunk[?], neither can we find out the Lands charged nor can we find out when the respective annuities were last received.

(a) Concerning the Articles not dated in our former report return, we can give no farther information - excepting 'Arundels' which will appear in the 3rd sheet of this our 2nd report.

(b) It appearing by an ancient inscription on our church-wall that Mr Berriman gave £100 to the poor of this Parish which is bestowed in an annuity for the Poor.
We think this is the annuity we purchased as there is a deed in our chest of 1622 granting the same but of lands in Nethercot in Branton (an adjoining parish) to Wm Leigh, Wm Molford, Faithfull Fortescue and two others then of this parish - But no uses are declared saving to the use of the said Granter or heirs, nor can we find any re-enfeoffment. Our Overseers duly receive this annuity of £6 deducting for land Tax. N.B. By the Deed it is to be paid in the Porch of Northam Church."

(c) [THE FOLLOWING CROSSED OUT: Duly received out of Southcott & Southfurze in the Parish of Shebbear in the County] by a Deed in our chest of 1698 Roger Melhuish & Thomas Hacche are named as Trustees & their heirs - with a purchase Brittons £30.

(d) We cannot obtain information how or when this Rent-Charge which was purchased with £50 was reduced to £0.13s.4d.

(e) The present annual Rack rent is £21 - which netteth in an average of 10 years about £7.

(hhh) Concerning the Articales marked with these letters, we can give no other information than that which we have already reported - they being only to be found on the Plaister of our church wall(#) - we can say nothing about the distribution of these charities nor about their application of which we are ignorant. (#) without date but as we believe about the close of the last century.

Page 3:
 

Observations:

No farther information can be given concerning all the pecuniary charities mentioned on this sheet - they being only to be found on the Plaister of our Church-Wall - and through a long intervention of time, we are not able to specify their application, nor can we declare or deny their distribution or the distribution of any of them.

Page 4:

Observations:

 (g) This is also one of the Charities mentioned on the Plaister of our Church Wall concerning which we can give no farther information than what we have said in our 1st sheet in our observations on Berriman - marked (b)

(h) This annuity is also on our Church Wall and is still received, being paid out of Land called Ridge Arundell in the parish of Bishop's Morchard by Benjamin Radford of Mary Trewan, who is seized thereof and acknowledgeth said Rent charge - we can give no farther information concerning the Date of the commencement of this annuity - nor any other particulars - see sheet (1st) marked (a) (d).

(i) These two charities are also mentioned on the wall of which no farther information can be given.

To Thomas Gilbert Esqr, member of Parliament Great Queen Street, Westminster
The Return contained in these three sheets is a full and true Return supplementary to our Return in 1786, relative to charitable donations for the benefit of poor persons within this parish.
Witness our hands the 9th of October 1787.
Jos[hu]a Bawden, Vicar of Northam Devon.

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Ref: NDRO/1843A/PF3

Page 1:

Northam Devon
9th October 1787

The Minister & Church Wardens in their Return of 1786 relative to charitable donations for the Benefit of Poor Persons having omitted to give an account of donations for schooling poor children (under a misconception that this was not required) do hereby supply that defect as followeth... (viz) in proper columns this the substance of our return.

Dame Ann Berry 1716.
Her executors were Roger Melhuish, Jno Benson, Mr Nar. Hatherly & 2 others, all deceased.
Mrs Grace Saltren deceased about 15 or 16 year since. In her Will hath taken no notice of her grandmother Berry's donation.
By Will gave £20 or about that sum to be laid out in purchasing a Title or Close of Land the yearly profit to be appointed to the keeping at school poor boys or girls of this Parish - no such purchase having been made the sum of twenty shillings was applied annually to the purpose aforesaid by the [CROSSED OUT: Representative of] [WRITTEN NEXT TO IT: later Mrs Grace Saltren Melhuish] the [WORDS INSERTED: ~illeg~ daughter ~illeg~] ~illeg~ and residuary legatee of the dedatation[?] and since the death of Mrs Saltren - by her executor - viz: by Narcissus Hatherley Exor.

Richard Cholwill
By enfeoffment 1691
Thomas Melhuish
Robert Voselin[?] the none since
Thomas grandson & heir of Thomas Melhuish is now living.
By Will gave £60 the annual profit to be applied in teaching poor children the way laid out in purchasing a part (somewhat more than a third) of Colscot in West Putford by the Parish Overseers, which now produceth annually - [ILLEG].

Mr Thomas Melhuish & Mrs Johan his wife 1702.
Trustees:
Roger Melhuish
Jno Benson
Thomas Haache
All 3 deceased
Thomas son of Roger and grandson of the donor is now living.
By Deed - gave forty shillings to be paid annually forever in a schoolmaster of Northam for teaching 6 poor children [~torn~] charging some closes of land consisting of about9 acres [~torn~] Vicar of Northam [~torn~] the lands so charged about the annual value of 30 [~torn~] the Vicar pays annually.

Dor[othy] Docton 1737
By Will - gave an annuity of forty shillings forever payable out of Jeffery's Lands to the teaching of six poor children under 11 years of age, to be paid by Feoffes - which annuity by deducting the Land Tax is reduced to about [ILLEG].
Trustees at this time:
Jos Bawden vicar
Thomas Chappell
Conformable to Mortmain

[~torn~] Wood 1752
By Will gave 20s as Rent Charge out of Assels (payable by Executors) to a Free School of Northam - paid for some years by the Purchaser of said land - who hath discontinued the payment for many years availing himself of the Mortmain Act - no Trustees.
Trustees: none
Executors: Robert Sarles, Henry Turner
Purchaser: Thomas Wills

Page 2:

Northam
Annuities - Charitable Donations to the Poor
1786 & for schooling poor children 
1787 - The following oath was prescribed concerning the same - viz:
You shall swear that the Answers and Return now made by you to the Questions contained in the Schedule hereunto annexed are full and true answers to the said Questions, to the best of your knowledge, Information and Belief.
Also a Supplemental Return 8br 9th 1787.
On 3 additional sheets
Besides the Donations within mentioned -
By a Deed of Alice Thomas 1645 3s.7d per an[num] out of West Youngaton is granted to the Church.

Page 3: 

Questions to which answers are to be returned by virtue of an act of 26th Geo 3rd entitled An Act for Securing Returns upon Oaths of all Charitable Donations for the Benefit of Poor Persons within the sever[al] parishes & places with that Part of Great Britain called England.

Question 1st. What Charitable Donations have been given by Deed or Will for the Benefit of Poor Persons within your parish - by whom - when - in what manner - and for what particular purpose were they given, to the best of your Knowledge, Information, and Belief.

Question 2nd. Were the 1st respective Donations Land or Money - in whom are they now vested and what is the Annual Produce thereof respectively to the best of know[ledg]e.

Substance of Answers returned from Northam August 22nd, 1786.

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The Underwritten is copied from an Inscription on the Wall Plaister within the Church of Northam having no date - but appears to be very ancient. N.B. We think it comprehends some of the above stated Donations.

(Query if this be not the £5 stated and said as above to be given by John Beaple?) No.21
The rest of the inscription is so defaced as not to be legible.
Jos[hu]a Bawden Vicar, August 1786

Donations for the schooling of children are omitted as they appear not to be required [~torn~] Act quoted, also such donations after time have been distributed [~torn~] nor were intended [~torn~] lasting effect.

*Transcribers notes on the last section:

The third column showing the year, has been added by the transcriber – this is not part of the original document. This was done in an attempt to determine when the Charity Writing was added (or stopped being added) to the internal wall of the church.

The dates are the best attempt to put a timescale on these events – some years can be more confidently ascribed as others, but in general it appears that these entries were being added in date-order in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.  Entries appear to stop in the late 1630s, and may indeed have stopped due to the English Civil War in the 1640s.

If these were just painted on the church plaster, they would eventually decay – hence the production of a more permanent record when the two slate plaques were produced in 1839.

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